Established in 2013, External Development Summit (XDS) is the only annual, international games industry event with a primary focus on external development for art, animation, audio, software engineering, QA and localization.
XDS gathers hundreds of international attendees from over 45 countries to advance the practice of external development for the games industry with three days of structured networking in Vancouver, Canada, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. XDS is considered to be a professionals-only event.
From the first keynote to the final remarks, XDS focuses on four core values:
- Knowledge Sharing
- B2B Networking
- Collaboration
- Industry Stewardship
We look forward to seeing you in Vancouver September 6-8, 2023! Sign up for our newsletter to keep up-to-date!
Who attends XDS?
As a professionals-only event, XDS attendees include a concentrated group of game developers, service providers, and middleware providers from over 45 countries. Individuals in attendance are the influencers and decision makers for external development for their respective organizations. XDS aims to maintain a balanced ratio of 50/50 buyers to sellers.
Developers/
Publishers
Companies that exclusively develop their own IP, and/or publish games. These companies are clients to Service Providers.
NOTE: Does not include Service Providers that develop their own IP.
Service Providers
A 3rd party company that provides work-for-hire or full SKU development services for clients.
NOTE: It is possible these companies also develop their own IP, however they are still considered to be in the Service Provider category.
Middleware Providers
A 3rd party company that provides tools and technologies that support the practice of external development.
Could include tools for remote review, communication, project management, file transfer, etc.
XDS will consider attendance from others, including those from the media, film, TV and animation. Email info@xdsummit.com for more information.
XDS Lifetime Achievements
125%
Growth in Attendance
14300
Contacts & Followers
$97K
Donated to Charitable Initiatives
5Years
Tickets Sold Out
14400
B2B Meetings
Latest Blogs &
News Event
Oct17th
XDS Wins Most Outstanding Virtual Event Award
XDS recently won the Most Outstanding Virtual Event in Canada for XDS21 Adapt, awarded by Canadian Special Eve...
Read More
Mar28th
XDS 2022 Insights Report on External Dev Now Available!
Our annual XDS 2022 Insights Report on External Development is now available! This report is intended to ident...
Read MoreXDS Sustainability
With the support of our partner Globant we are proud to say that this year’s XDS was the greenest ever!
Through meaningful action around carbon emissions, waste reduction, menu curation, and manufacturing, we further minimized our environmental impact in 2022.